New Jersey Veterans and families – mark April 7th on your calendar. Join Operation K9 Beethoven for an afternoon with therapy dogs, informative/resourceful speakers, q&a, great company, and delicious food and refreshments.

On the agenda for the day

• Learn about PTSD Service Dogs
• Meet the therapy dogs – Beethoven, Duffy (deaf therapy dog), Shadow, Luna, Sophie, Blaze, Chase, Zola)
• GI Bill Discussion and Information
• PTSD Discussion and Support
• Veteran Benefits / Claims Help and Information
• Substance Abuse and Family Support
• Sandwiches, Coffee, Dessert

Please RSVP to 201-587-9338 with how many people will attend, to ensure they have enough food and refreshments for everyone.

JIM MONAGHAN – Brian Reyngoudt is the co-founder and vice president of Operation K9 Beethoven. Brian, for WDHA and WMTR listeners who are new to this, tell them what your program does.

BRIAN REYNGOUDT – Operation K9 Beethoven is that we help our veterans one paw at a time like we like to say. We rescue dogs from euthanasia off the streets, kill shelters, we bring them back to health.

Our goal is to train them to become psychiatric service dogs. And we give them away for free to our veterans at no cost to them. So no money comes out of their pocket. And these dogs get trained to become their psychiatric service animal.

JM – How do you vet the dogs that you that you come into to make sure that they’re right for this program?

BR – We work with several trainers who will evaluate them to make sure that their temperament is good. You have to have a calm, cool, collective animal to be trained as a psychiatric service dog so that that dog can go out in public with the veteran, the human being.

JM – And what kind of a financial investment does that require for each dog?

BR – Each dog, give or take, is about $6,000. That is the cost for the training, getting the dog, going through the vet, getting shots and whatever it needs, food, transportation.

The veteran, like I said, doesn’t pay any money to us. So from all the sales that we do with our merchandise, as well as donations, that’s how we were able to get that dog to that veteran.

JM – We have dogs come up to the radio station all the time with Terrie Carr in the Rock N Ruff program and to watch the mood in the building changed no matter how stressful a day may be, Brian, you get a dog or two coming in and it’s just, it’s incredible have a dog or a pet just in general can change the mood of a workplace, a home, any kind of environment.

BR – Absolutely. I get to see it also all the time. We also along with our program, we have another program, which is our pet therapy program, where Beethoven and all of his friends, they go to schools, they go to rehabs, they go to veterans homes, they go to hospitals and being able to see when those dogs walk in, the staff, the patients, everybody, their faces just light up.

Operation K9 Beethoven’s namesake

JM – Tell us about Beethoven.

BR – Beethoven is a German Shepherd. He’s the real boss, as we like to say. He’s the CEO and he travels all throughout the state of New Jersey along with all of his friends and Parker and Duffy and all of them.

We’re really getting really big with our therapy program. It’s really taken off within the last several months, which is great. I mean, everybody wants us to come.

April 7 event details

JM – I know you have an event coming up in early April on Sunday, 7th. Tell our WDHA and WMTR listeners about that, Brian.

BR – We’re going to do this thing for the first time. We’re going to have an informative experience speakers who will discuss and answer questions regarding the GI Bill, PTSD, veteran benefits claims, substance abuse, and family support, and the benefits of having a psychiatric service dog.

We’re also going to have our therapy dog team there where they can come down and hang out with Duffy, Shadow, Luna, Sophie, Blaze, Chase, Zola. And we’re going to be serving and refreshments, light refreshments.

How to donate

If your listeners want to take part in it, you can email us at [email protected] or you can shoot us a text for an RSVP because we want to make sure we have enough food for everybody.
That phone number is 201-587-9338. The place is located in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, VFW Post, 3484, 44 Market Street in Saddlebrook, New Jersey, Jim.

JM – And what time will that be, Brian?

BR – That’s going to be starting at 3 PM.

JM – So that is on Sunday, April 7th. We encourage our WDHA and WMTR listeners to attend if they are at all able.

For listeners, Brian, who want to make a donation, maybe they can’t come that day, but they want to make a donation to the Operation K9 Beethoven program – how do they go about doing that?

They can go right over to our website at operationk9beethoven.com and you can smash the donate button. Every little bit helps.

• Rebecca Kinney - Making Medicare Less Complicated

  As we get older, there are two things that we find ourselves navigating through – Social Security and Medicare.

  Both of them are pretty confusing, especially Medicare. Rebecca Kinney, the director of the Office of Healthcare Information and Counseling at the Administration for Community Living offers some helpful information.

  Why Medicare is so hard to navigate

  It’s health insurance. And health insurance is really complicated no matter how you’re getting access to that insurance, whether you’re paying for it yourself, getting it through an employer plan, or if you’re someone who’s eligible for Medicare and getting your insurance through Medicare.

  It’s evolved a lot since it was originally established in 1965. It’s important for folks to take time and really sort through what is happening with their Medicare so they can make good, educated decisions on their coverage.

  There are private insurance companies that contract with Medicare to provide coverage. So we’ve got lots of Medicare Advantage plans, also known as Part C, available across the country. And also the Medicare prescription drug coverage is also offered through private insurance companies.

  So all of these companies are sending out information on their plans and what’s available and it can be really overwhelming for folks to understand what they’re looking at, what all this means, and how to make a decision.

  That’s where one of the programs that I oversee comes into play.

  It’s known as the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, also known as the SHIP. And it is a federally funded program that is available free because it is federally funded and it is also unbiased.

  We are not associated with any insurance companies to really provide one-on-one assistance to Medicare and release to sort through all of those different things that they get in the mail and the questions that they might have on Medicare.

  We help them navigate all of that, really understand what choices they have to make and what their options are and will help them get enrolled as well once they make a decision on a particular plan or set of plan coverage.

  We can help them get enrolled in those decisions.

  Medicare obstacles

  The biggest thing is really that confusion and complication that we’ve been talking about. Everyone who is on Medicare is overwhelmed by that in particular.

  Another big thing that we see is, you know, a lot of folks on Medicare, they’re retired, they’re living on a fixed income and they may have really limited income and assets available to help them pay for their health coverage but also their other needs, housing, food, right?

  It can be hard to really figure out how can you pay, how can I afford to pay for all of these different things.

  In our program, we help folks, we screen them for programs that are available to help them pay for their Medicare in particular, those premiums and copays.

  If they look like they might be eligible, we’ll help them get enrolled as well.

  So we’ll go through the process of helping them gather all the documents and getting the information onto the applications needed to access those benefits to help them pay for their Medicare benefits.

  We also can connect them to other programs that might help them pay for those other things like food and housing. If they might be eligible to try to ensure that people are getting the access to all the benefits that they might be eligible for to help them afford their daily needs.

  Recent changes to Medicare

  We have a real expansion of the different private health insurance plans that are available
  to help cover Medicare, those Medicare advantage and Part D plans.

  The number of plans available has really grown, which is an important element for folks to navigate through. But more recently, there have been a few changes that have expanded Medicare coverage and reduced costs for Medicare beneficiaries, no matter their income.

  Some examples of that include the change that happened in 2023 to reduce copay for insulin to $35, whether someone takes insulin through a pump or if they self-administer that insulin, their copay now is only $35 a month per insulin product, which in some cases has made a huge difference for folks.

  Insulin has been very expensive and that reduction, it doesn’t matter what plan you’re enrolled in, your insulin copay should be no more than $35 a month for each product.

  Another change is ensuring that vaccines are available free of charge to Medicare beneficiaries.

  Things like the shingles vaccine and RSV vaccine are now available to Medicare beneficiaries free of charge, trying to ensure that folks get access to those preventative benefits to try to avoid those illnesses that can have extreme negative consequences for folks if they get them.

  There’s also been an expansion for one of the programs that helped pay for Medicare.

  Again, I was talking about this earlier, if somebody has limited income and assets and are really struggling to pay for their prescription drug costs, starting January 4th of this year, the extra help program was expanded.

  Some more people are eligible for that program to help reduce the premium for part D possibly down to zero, depending on the options that are available and really reduce the copays at the pharmacy as well.

  It really makes a big difference for folks who are eligible for those things.

  Protecting yourself from Medicare fraud

  Medicare unfortunately is a pretty big target for fraud schemes and we see a lot of things related to again, tele-health has been because the coverage for that is expanded.

  We see durable medical equipment that things like wheelchairs, braces, insulin products and supplies.

  They are a huge target for fraud as well and so fraudsters also use COVID as a way to try to scam people into giving them their personal information and then they would go and build Medicare for tens of thousands of dollars of things that were never provided and never received and really just pocketing that money.

  It’s a real big problem and so what we try to encourage folks to do is one, be careful. Don’t give out your personal information that includes your Medicare number to anyone you don’t know. Only provide that to your healthcare providers.

  Second thing, pay attention to your explanation of benefits or your Medicare summary notices that come in and show what services have been billed on your behalf and make sure those are things you actually received.

  It’s a good idea to kind of keep track of all of your appointments and who you saw, which dates those types of things. Kind of use a healthcare tracker to kind of keep track of that and compare that to your explanation of benefits.

  If you see something that looks funny or you don’t understand or it seems a little fishy, you can contact our program too and we will help you take a look at that and we work very closely with the Office Inspector General and Medicare.

  When things look like they might have been fraud, we get them into the investigators hands as quickly as possible.

  For WDHA and WMTR listeners here in New Jersey who want more information about the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, please go to shiphelp.org.

• Newark Fire Fighter Michael Petrone - NJ Fight For Air Climb April 14

  Coming up Sunday April 14th it is the Fight For Air Climb at Red Bull Arena to support one million people living in New Jersey with lung disease.

   

  My guest this morning is one of the participants, he’s been doing it for a number of years.

  JIM MONAGHAN – Michael Petrone good morning and welcome to WDHA and WMTR. What kind of shape are your legs in right now?

  MICHAEL PETRONE – They’re in pretty good shape. I know I look a little old but I’m pretty much in a gym every day so I feel pretty good.

  JM – You should be you should be in shape you’re also a firefighter in the city of Newark. Let me ask you how did you get involved…this is not your first time you’re doing this run how did you get involved in this?

  MP – Years ago Karen Isky was the coordinator for this for the Newark Fire Department she was the liaison between the American Lung Association.

  She would come out to each firehouse and she would bring a fire representative would go around what her take her each firehouse and she would pitch the Fight For Air Climb and the benefits so I kind of just jumped on board with it.

  JM – It’s 780 stairs we should point out, so it’s not like you just walking up a couple of flights of stairs. It’s a it’s a pretty good haul.

  MP – It is a good haul. It’s designed to to kind of give you a perspective of how people with lung disease feel just walking down a street.

  So if you’re climbing you get out of breath and this is what people go through every day just so just to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.

  JM – There are a number of different levels including a beginner’s level and then there’s a firefighters level and you are as we mentioned a firefighter city of Newark. How does your firefighter training help you with something like this?

  MP – When we do the climb you you have the option to either wear full turnout gear.

  At my age I prefer I wear my turnout gear but I don’t put on a mask, I don’t put on a tank, I don’t carry that stuff around.

  Just the the years of carrying this stuff on your back and and performing your job with 30 plus extra pounds on your back it makes it a little bit more doable for us.

  We’re kind of more used to you know working with extra weight.

  JM – do you come from a family where a firefighting has been an occupation?

  MP – I do.  My dad was a fireman in Newark for 27 years, retired in 1997.  My great grandfather was a fireman, two uncles and a number of cousins, all in Newark.

  I always found it rewarding. I really love the job so that’s what I did I was around in my whole life watching my father do it and kind of just fell right in line.

  JM – How many various fire departments participate in this climb every year Michael?

  MP – We get some from Harrison, some from Kearny, I think Jersey City and then I know a lot of the volunteer companies from around the state participate.

  JM – There is a fundraising goal this year of a hundred thousand dollars. For WDHA and WMTR listeners who want more information they can go to fightforairclimb.org/NewJersey.

  Again the event is set for April 14th at Red Bull Arena in Harrison and is for the American Lung Association their signature event of the season. Michael, good luck this year and thank you so much for your time and joining us this morning.

  MP – Thank you I just wanted to point out real quick that I have been the top fund raiser the last few years come and get the title!

• Rock N Ruff

  Hello Dog Loving Rockers!

  It’s  WDHA’s Rock N’ Ruff featuring “Jinx”! Jinx is such an amazing young dog. Jinx is just about 9 months old, loves to play, is good with kids, enjoys the company of other dogs and is very friendly and affectionate. Sweet Jinx will bring you LUCK, because she is such a fantastic young dog. Jinx is being housed at the shelter, so with her young age and awesome disposition, it would be great to get her out and into a fantastic family soon! She really deserves a home of her own. She is a perfect size, not too big and not too small, and inspected to NOT grow to be much bigger. She’s more than likely a Hound, Border Collie, perhaps Lab mix – the perfect combination! As you can see in her video she is a lot of fun and had a blast with us at WDHA.

  Jinx is at the kennels at Eleventh Hour Rescue in Randolph, Eleventh Hour Rescue Link and to check out her page on the EHR website- Jinx EHR Page and for their adoption application info check here- Eleventh Hour Rescue Application Info

  Please note- All dog & cat adoption fees include spay/neuter, age-appropriate
  vaccinations, initial flea & tick prevention, initial deworming, and microchip. All cats will be FIV/FeLV tested and all dogs aged 6 months and up will receive a heart worm test.

  Thank you for helping me support our rock and rescue efforts at WDHA and if you have adopted a dog that you heard about on Rock N’ Ruff, please send me a photo and an update- I love “Happy Tails”!

  Also See

  Don’t forget to check out all of our Rockstar Rescues looking for homes – WDHA’s Rock N’ Ruff

  Our quest to help find Meep – Meep Is Still Missing

  The staff pups that help us keep the station rocking- Meet The Staff Pups Of WDHA

  The TC Rock and Ruff Roundtable page – TC’s Rock and Ruff Roundtable

  Keep the date of 6/1/2024 open for a special announcement about our next Rock and Ruff Adoption Event and as always “Opt To Adopt”!

  Terrie Carr

• Coach Sheets' Ride In

  Jeremy Sheetinger is the head baseball coach at Georgia Gwinnett College where he led the Grizz Gang to the 2021 NAIA National Championship.

  These quick hits may, on the surface, be geared toward his fellow baseball coaches, but his motivational message can easily be applied to the classroom, workplace, and your personal relationships.

  This week, Coach Sheets talks about those days when you have absolutely nothing to offer as a leader. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

  🚘 HOW ‘BOUT THAT RIDE IN? 🚘
  
  Maybe the most important message on here… and of all time…
  
  - - -
  
  I got nothing.
  
  And that’s ok as a leader! Not every situation has a chapter in the Leadership Handbook!
  
  Have the confidence to say “I don’t know”
  
  ⚡️ Positive Vibes Only!
  
  #👊 pic.twitter.com/8JjlJhQk4x

  — Jeremy Sheetinger | Sheets (@CoachSheets3) March 14, 2024

• Local Look

  Looking for something fun to do in the area? Chris Swendeman has you covered with this week’s Local Look.

  There are always so many fun events happening in our local communities.  Check out what’s in store for this week in New Jersey.

  • There are plenty of ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today with parades going on that include celebrations in Bayonne, Freehold, and South Amboy.  Check your local town’s website for the most updated times and information.
  • Get the rod and reel out and head to Edison for the Saltwater Fishing Expo
    at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison.  Today is the final day of the biggest and best Saltwater Fishing Expo in the east.  The event runs from 10 AM to 5 PM.  Visit njexpocenter.com for further details and ticket info.
  • And still didn’t get your fill for St. Patty’s Day fun?  You can head to the 20th annual Highland St. Patrick’s Day Parade next Saturday, March 23rd from 2 to 4 PM in Huddy Park.  Step off begins at Waterwitch Avenue and extends along Bay Avenue.

   

  And that’s your Local Look for this week on The Jersey Magazine.  If you’d like your event to be featured on The Local Look, you can email us at [email protected].  See you next week on 105.5 WDHA.

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